Trump declares himself Venezuela’s ‘acting president’ in online post after Maduro ouster

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President Donald Trump branded himself as the "president" of Venezuela in a social media post Sunday night, after signaling that the U.S. would oversee Caracas, Venezuela, for years. 

Trump shared a doctored image that looked like a Wikipedia page that identified him as "Acting President of Venezuela" since January 2026, after the U.S. conducted strikes in Venezuela and seized its dictator, Nicolás Maduro. 

Trump said Jan. 3 that the U.S. would run Venezuela until a safe transition could occur, and he told The New York Times in an interview published Wednesday that he anticipated that the U.S. would oversee Venezuela "much longer" than six months or a year. Even so, he did not share a more detailed estimated timeline. 

President Donald Trump, alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, right, speaks to the press following U.S. military actions in Venezuela, at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, Jan. 3, 2026. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

The social media post also comes as the Trump administration has sought to reassert U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere, and has claimed it’s revived the Monroe Doctrine, rebranded as the "Don-roe Doctrine," which originally sought to limit European influence in Latin America and to protect U.S. influence in the region.

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The Monroe Doctrine, first introduced in 1823 by President James Monroe, eventually was used to justify U.S. actions in the region as an "international police power" under former President Theodore Roosevelt, according to the National Archives.

In response to questions from Fox News Digital regarding whether the post was shared jokingly, and what it suggests about how long the U.S. will be involved in running Venezuela, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital: "President Trump will be the greatest President for the American and Venezuelan people in history. Congratulations, world!"

Trump announced Jan. 3 that U.S. special forces conducted a "large-scale strike" against Caracas, Venezuela, and seized Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Both were taken to New York and appeared in a Manhattan federal court Jan. 5 on drug charges, where they each pleaded not guilty.

Nicolás Maduro is seen in handcuffs after landing at a Manhattan helipad, escorted by heavily armed federal agents as they make their way into an armored car en route to a federal courthouse in Manhattan, New York, January 5, 2026.  (XNY/Star Max/GC Images via Getty Images)

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The raid came after months of pressure on Venezuela and more than two dozen strikes in Latin American waters against alleged drug traffickers as part of Trump’s effort to crack down on the influx of drugs into the U.S.

The Trump administration routinely stated that it did not recognize Maduro as a legitimate head of state and said he was the leader of a drug cartel. Likewise, Trump said in December 2025 he believed it would be "smart" for Maduro to step down. 

The Trump administration has justified seizing Maduro as a "law enforcement" operation, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said congressional approval wasn’t necessary since the operation didn’t amount to an "invasion."

Secretary of State, Sen. Marco Rubio testifies during his Senate Foreign Relations confirmation hearing at Dirksen Senate Office Building on Jan. 15, 2025 in Washington, D.C.  (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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However, lawmakers primarily on the left have questioned the legality of the operation in Venezuela, which was conducted without Congress' approval.

"This has been a profound constitutional failure," the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said in a statement Jan. 3. "Congress — not the President — has the sole power to authorize war. Pursuing regime change without the consent of the American people is a reckless overreach and an abuse of power."

Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.